


Not What You Expected

by ThirtySixSaveFiles



Category: Borderlands (Video Games), borderlands: the pre-sequel
Genre: M/M, Pining, but it's short-lived
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 04:56:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11479059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirtySixSaveFiles/pseuds/ThirtySixSaveFiles
Summary: Tim's getting increasingly desperate to get Wilhelm's attention; this, however, is not what he had planned.





	Not What You Expected

**Author's Note:**

> Short little piece for the BL Summer Bingo 2017!

Tim settles on the diving board, dangling his feet over the edge as he leans his elbows on his knees. The lights in the house behind him are dimmed, the pool empty except for a lone styrofoam noodle floating gently across the still water. The party has moved down to the yard, Jack promising something about “the biggest bonfire you’ve ever freakin’ seen.” This is a rental, so Tim hopes Jack doesn’t set the tree on fire. Again.

But Rhys is down there and Rhys has been - good for Jack, Tim decides. A moderating influence. He never thought he’d see his brother settle down again, but he never thought he’d see Jack look at someone who wasn’t Angel the way he looks at Rhys, either. It would be kinda sappy if it weren’t so genuine, and if it wasn’t clearly such a surprise to Jack himself.

Timothy is happy for his brother. He is. He just wishes that seeing Jack happy didn’t make him feel so - lonely. Tim rolls his shoulders and leans back on his elbows, looking up at the dusky sky. The stars are coming out, and he watches them for a long moment, just breathing and trying not to think of the one person at this faux luau he’s trying to avoid.

It’s not that he doesn’t like Wilhelm. That’s - that’s the _opposite_ of the problem, really.

The _problem_ is that he very much wants to climb Wilhelm like that tree down in the yard, and -

Tim shuts that line of thought down with a vengeance. Wilhelm isn’t interested; he would have said something if he was, would have responded to Tim’s increasingly desperate attempts at flirting with something more than a grunt.

Tim sighs. The sooner he gets over this little crush, the better.

There’s a whoop from the yard down below and a sudden flare of flame, and Tim squints against the sudden brightness. There’s a crackle of brush being thrown on the fire, and then small specks of light dance upward like fireflies, burning bits of scrub caught in the wind. Some of them drift up the hill, zig-zagging in the fading light, and Tim reaches out a hand dreamily, as if he could touch one -

Something alights on his hand, a scratchy weight just barely there and Tim blinks, bringing it closer to see -

Tim shrieks, jerking his hand away from his face, and the flailing movement tips him off balance and into the pool with a resounding splash.

There’s a moment where everything is muffled, then Tim surfaces, sputtering and coughing, and comes face to foot with a familiar pair of sandals standing on the edge of the pool.

How pathetic is he, Tim thinks resignedly, that he can recognize Wilhelm by his _footwear_. Wilhelm sets his bowl of ice cream aside and crouches, and Tim jerks his eyes up and away from the stretch of fabric over those muscular thighs. They’re bigger around than Tim’s head, and -

 _Stop_. Maybe if he just slips back under the water he’ll drown and put himself out of this misery.

“Quite the splash.” Wilhelm sticks his hand out as Tim tries to nonchalantly tread water. “You see something you didn’t like?” Tim takes Wilhelm’s hand gratefully and tries not to dwell _at all_ on how easily Wilhelm straightens, pulling Tim up and out of the pool.

“I don’t like beetles,” Tim says as he gets his balance.

“You never seen a lightning bug before?” Wilhelm sounds amused and Tim scowls.

“ _No_ , I - is that what that was?” Wilhelm raises a brow. “I thought - I thought lightning bugs were _cute_ , like, I don’t know, little bumblebees. Bumblebees with light-up butts,” Tim clarifies, and the second it’s out of his mouth he want to throw himself back into the pool. Wilhelm looks like he’s politely not laughing, and Tim sighs. “I know, I know. City boy.”

“Damn straight,” but Wilhelm’s wearing the barest smile, and this is more words than Tim has gotten out of him all evening, and it’s a small, pathetic victory but Tim will take it.

“So, uh -” He really doesn’t know what he’s going to say next, but the breeze picks up and Tim shivers, suddenly reminded that he’s sopping wet and dripping all over the place.

“Here.” Wilhelm reaches out and snags one of the obnoxious Hawaiian-print towels Jack had ordered special for the occasion, unfolding it and draping it around Tim’s shoulders. Those large hands rub slowly up and down Tim’s arms through the towel, and Tim’s breath catches, because if Wilhelm doesn’t _stop_ Tim’s stupid brain is going to get entirely the wrong impression.

“No, it’s - it’s okay, I got it. Thanks,” Tim adds as he steps back, wrapping the towel more firmly around himself. “You don’t have to - I got it.” Wilhelm’s brow creases slightly, and Tim sighs internally. He should just - go while he’s still on Wilhelm's good side.

“So, anyway, I’ll just be -”

“Do you want to go see a movie sometime?”

“...going…” Tim finishes, trailing off as Wilhelm shifts. “Did you - did you just ask me out?” He shakes his head; maybe he still has water in his ears. “I practically threw myself at you all evening and _now_ you ask me out?”

Wilhelm shoves his hands in his pockets and rolls his shoulders. “It’s just -” Tim has never heard Wilhelm sound so hesitant. “I know what I look like, ok? With all of the - everything.” He waves his hand vaguely at his face and arms, scarred from years of manual labor, and Tim feels realization slowly dawning. “And you’re Jack’s brother, and...” Wilhelm shrugs shamefacedly.

“That _asshole_ ,” Tim breathes. “If he nearly _ruined_ my chances with you just because _he’s_ a jerk -”

“Yeah, well I know better now, ok?” Wilhelm shrugs uncomfortably, staring up and the sky as if the answer that will save him is written up there. “Look, if you _weren’t_ joking earlier -”

“ _Yes_ ,” Tim blurts out and Wilhelm looks back down at him. “I mean, no - I mean, shut up and listen for a second,” he says as as Wilhelm frowns again. Tim steps forward, greatly daring, letting the towel fall to the ground. Wilhelm doesn’t move as Tim rests his hands on Wilhelm’s biceps, not even when Tim digs his fingers as if he can hold Wilhelm in place.

“Yes, I want to go out with you. No, I wasn’t joking. Not even a little bit,” he adds as Wilhelm starts to smile.

“What about when you told Nisha you wanted to -”

“Oh my god, that was said _in confidence_ , I can’t believe she - no, you know what, I totally can believe she told you. Shut up,” he adds as Wilhelm’s grin grows wider.

“I didn’t say anything.” Wilhelm sounds entirely too smug.

“Shut up anyway,” Tim says, and leans up to kiss that smirk away.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at [ThirtySixSaveFiles](http://thirtysixsavefiles.tumblr.com) on Tumblr!


End file.
